Improvement in self-acting  wagon-bkakes



J. A. & W. WILLIAMS.

S e lf Acting Wagon Brake.

Patented Feb. H, 1868 gums gtetts gaunt .ffire.

.I A. WILLIAMS AND W. W. WILLIAMS, OF MATTOON, LLINO s.

Letters Patent No. 74,468, dated February 11, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-ACTING WAGON-BRAKES.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: V

,1 Be it known that we, J. A. WILLIAMS and W. W. WILLIAMS, of Mattoon, in the county of Coles, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-ActingWagon-Brake; andwe do hereby declare that the following is a' full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in theart to make and use the same. rc'ferencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whiohv I V i Figure'l represents a side view of the running-gear of a wagon, with our improved self-acting brake or wheel-lock attached. i l

'Figure 2 is a. top view of the same.

Figure 3 is a partial view of the same. Similarletters of reference indicate corresponding parts. This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a wagon-brake or wheel-lock, and consists in a self-acting arrangement of the brake, in connection'with the single-trees of a wagon or other vehicle, whereby,

, when the wagon-is descending a hill, it bears upon a wheel and prevents the wagon from running upon the borse s the force of the brake on the wheel being proportioned to the inclination of the road and tendency of the wagon to goforward, so that its movement is regulated automatically, partlyby the'position assumed by the 'b'rakeon the wheel, according to thedraugh't, and, partly by the action of a spring on the brake, as hereinafter more particularly described." I I l are'wheelsof'a wagon, connected as usual by the reach B with houndsC and tongue D'. The shoe a is attached to the end ofan ironbrake-bar, b, which is bent at right angles, and is attached to tho bolster c, to turn loosely in a. s taple',. ql, near the middle of the bolster, and at the outer end of thebolster is confined by linlr, c, that books on to a spring, g, placed on the back part of the bolster. The brakc-bar, b, after passing through the staple d,tnrns downward at right angles, forming an arm, 6, to the end of which is attached a chain, It, made so as to be coupled longer or shorter at pleasure, and fastened at the other end to a rod, is, running under and lengthwise of the wagon, forward of the front axle, where it branches into two forks, m m, loosely-connected with it, to which forks are fastened chain s, n n, that are attached to the upper side of the single-trees 12'}? respectively, coming around from underneath.

It will besecn that when the team moves forward, the single-trees draw upon the chains an, and the rod 7:, and thus operate on the brake-bar Zr, so that the. shoe a rises to'the top of the wheel, entirely free from it, and there remains without acting while the draught is continued, but when going down a. hill,- the wagon tends to crowd the team and the traces slacken, the single-trees drop, and the brake-bar at the sametime with them, so that the shoe or rubber falls forward upon the wheel and catches against its periphery, bearingupon it just-in proportion to the need of checking the forward movement of the wagon. The spring 9 bears upon the brake-ba.r

b, by drawing on the link 0, and thus presses the shoe a upon the wheel; but the moment the rubbing or pressure of'the shoe is greater than is necessary, the team begins to draw upon the single-trees, and thus raises the brake to relieve the pressure of the shoe as required, according to the inclination of the road, and the fluctuation of the draught. I

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent- The combination of the brake-bar b, the spring g, the connecting-rod, and chains, and the single-trees p p, constructed, arranged, and operating as a self-acting wagon-brake, substantially as herein described.

' J. A. WILLIAMS, W. W.. WILLIAMS. Witnesses:

Guns. Berliner, R.' P, A. HAMILTON. 

